Multiple drink mixing machine



NOV- 25a l952 E. s. PRINCE ETAL MULTIPLE DRINK MIXING MACHINE 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 28, 1950 www MPM n 5f d am, a E@ Y B .J M.

NOV-25, 1952' E. s. PRINCE ETAL 2,619,332

MULTIPLE DRINK MIXING MACHINE Filed June 28, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,07zNwgNoRs.

Earl 5. Pruzce By RoberZA/llczg'dlb NV 25, 1952 E. s.-PR|NcE ETALMULTIPLE DRINK MIXING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 28, 1950INVENToRs fa rl S. .France By Rober/Wacauga H 'Lj Patented Nov. 25,1952

IWULTIPLE DRINK MIXING MACHINE Earl S. Prince and Robert MaoDougall,Rock Falls, Ill., assignors to Prince Castle Manufacturing Div., Inc.,Sterling, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application June 28, 1950,Serial No. 170,906

2 Claims. l

The present invention relates to multiple drink mixing machines of thegeneral type disclosed in the co-pending application of Earl S. Princeand John Brotheridge entitled Multiple Drink Mixing Machine, Serial No.620,304, filed October 4, 1945, now Patent No. 2,531,989, dated November28, 1950.

In the multiple drink mixing machine described in the above-identiiiedapplication, a plurality of depending spindle assemblies which arespaced around the periphery of a central master driving wheel arearranged to be moved into engagement with the driving wheel when aparticular cup containing liquid to be mixed is placed about aparticular mixing spindle. The rotating spindles are provided withagitator members which agitate, or beat, the liquid in the cup.

In prior art devices wherein a driven member is shifted so as to berotated by irictional engagement with a larger driving member, thenormal side thrust on the shaft of the driven member is substantial andmay, in many instances, cause deformation or bending of the shaft. Suchdeformation tends to produce uneven and excessive wear in the bearingssupporting the driven member. Accordingly, it is an object of thepresent invention to provide a new and improved multiple drink mixingmachine having a plurality ci depending spindle assemblies arranged tobe driven by a central master driving wheel and in which there isprovided means for substantially preventing accidental bending of theupper portion of the spindles by the operator and during normal usethereof.

it is another object of the present invention to provide a new andimproved multiple drink mixing machine having a plurality of dependingspindle assembiies arranged to be driven by a central master drivingwheel and wherein each mixing spindle construction includes an upperball bearing which is positioned on the upper end of the mixing spindle,the ball bearing being positioned on the spindle in the plane of themaster driving wheel whereby side thrust on the spindle does not causebending thereof and consequent eccentricity of the driven member.

Also, in many instances, it is desirable to provide a mixing spindleassembly in which the number and position of the agitator membersassociated with each spindle may be readily changed to accommodateliquids of various constituents. For example, if a very thick liquid,such as in malted milk, is to be mixed, it is desirable to have theagitators spaced evenly along a relatively large portion of the spindleso as to obtain a maximum beating action. On the other hand, when a verythin liquid is to be mixed the agitator should not be positioned alongthe upper portion of the spindle in order to prevent agitation near thesurface and splashing of the liquid out of the mixing container. Also,in most mixing operations it is desirable to position at least oneagitator very close to the bottom of the container as the heaviestliquids settle to the bottom and are otherwise unaffected by theagitation. However, when using glass mixing containers the bottomthereof is substantially "thicker'than a corresponding metal containerand hence the position of the bottommost agitator must be varied toaccommodate containers of various thicknesses.

It is further desirable to provide certain spindles of a multiplespindle machine with differently positioned agitators so that liquids ofvarious constituents may be mixed without changing agitators. By such anarrangement, different types of liquids may be simultaneously mixedwithout changing the position of the agitators on a particular spindle.Accordingly, it is a further object of the present invention to providea new and improved multiple drink mixing machine in which a multipleagitator assembly associated with each spindle may be readily adaptedfor optimum mixing of a particular liquid.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a newand improved multiple drink mixing machine wherein is provided amultiple agitator assembly associated with each spindle which may beeasily modied to provide a variety oi types of agitation.

The invention, both as to its organization and method of operation,together with further objects and advantages thereof, will best beunderstood b-y reference to the following specication taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view oi the multiple drink mixing machine;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View taken along the central axis of thedevice of Fig. 1 showing in full the mixing spindle assembly of thepresent invention;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View taken along the central axis of themixing spindle assembly of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the lines 4-4 ofl Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a top view of the spindle assembly of the Fig. 3 with thepinion member removed;

Fig. 6 is an exploded view of the multiple agitator assembly of Fig. 2;

Figs. 7-9 illustrate various arrangements of the multiple agitatorassembly; and

Figs. -12 illustrate various arrangements of an alternative multipleagitator assembly which is particularly adapted for use with mixing cupsof various thicknesses.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is illustrated inFig. 1 the complete multiple drink mixing machine embodying theprinciples of the present invention. As shown, the multiple drink mixingmachine comprises a fiat stationary base, indicated generally at I5,which is provided with a depressed circular portion and a surroundingupstanding rim so as to provide a shallow drip tray I6. The base memberI5 is preferably a stamping of stainless steel although it mightcomprise a casting or stamping of any suitable metal and is formed atthe rear thereof with a preferably integral, hollow, upstanding columnindicated generally at I1. A mixing head indicated generally at I8 issupported by the column I1 and includes a motor housing I9 and aplurality of depending spindle assemblies 2 which may be driven from acentral master driving wheel contained within the mixing head I8 anddescribed in more detail hereinafter. A plurality of supporting studs 2lare positioned about the bottom rim of the motor housing I9 and areadapted to engage the bottom lip of a cup containing the liquid to bemixed. Each of the spindles is provided with a plurality of agitatormembers 22, which, in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention, may be variably positioned along the length of the dependingspindle so as to provide optimum mixing action with a liquid of aparticular constituency.

While reference may be made to the above identied application for adetailed description of the general operation of the multiple drinkmixing machine, for the purposes of the present invention it may bestated that a cup containing the liquid to be mixed is placed about aparticular spindle assembly and is raised upwardly so as to engage thebottom lip thereof with the associated supporting stud 2|. When the cupis raised to this position, the spindle assembly is moved intoengagement with the central master driving wheel and the spindle isrotated at a high rate of speed so as to produce the desired agitationof the liquid in the cup by means of the agitator members 22.

Referring now in more detail to the constructional features of themultiple drink mixing machine of Fig. 1, and particularly with referenceto the way in which the spindle assemblies are moved into engagementwith the master driving wheel, there is shown in Fig. 2 a verticalsectional view of the driving assembly of Fig. 1 as taken along thecentral axis of the driving wheel and with the motor housing and mixinghead cover removed. Thus, referring to this gure, the driving motor issupported on a motor plate 3I which may be of sheet metal and which issupported by the upstanding column I1 and is provided with a relativelylarge aperture through which the shaft or spindle 32 of the motor 30 mayextend. The motor plate 3| is adapted to carry a spider comprising anintegral metal casting which comprises a circular rim 33 which isprovided with a plurality of upstanding posts one of which is indicatedat 34. These posts correspond to the plurality of spindle assemblies andare spaced equidistantly around the arcuate portion of the spider. Eachpost includes an outstanding, radially projecting tongue, or lug 35. Thesame bolts 36 attach the spider to the motor plate 3| and likewise passinto the top portion of the motor and affix it rigidly to the motorplate and spider whereby the motor 36 is mounted in the mixing head withthe motor spindle 32 upstanding therefrom. The bottom of the motor isprovided with electrical cables 31 and 33, the latter connecting with aswitch 39 having a control member 40 which projects beyond the loweredge of the housing I9. The electrical cord 31 passes downwardly throughthe column and thence out through the open bottom of the column forconnection to a suitable source of electric current.

The central motor spindle 32 has affixed thereto a relatively large,centrally disposed driving wheel indicated generally at 4I which ispreferably formed of sheet metal. The driving wheel 4I is comprised ofan upper sheet metal disk 42 and a lower sheet metal disk 43, the twodisks being secured to the motor spindle 32 by means of a centralcircular block 44 having an outstanding lower flange 45 provided withsuitably threaded perforations. In addition, there is provided a spacingring 46 likewise having perforations and an upper ring-like cap 41. Aseries of bolts or screws 46 pass through registering openings in thespacing ring 46 and into the threaded flange 45 of the block 44. Theinner circular edges of the two disks 42 and 43 are received between theupper edges of the flange 45, the lower edges of the spacing ring 4S andthe upper edge of the spacing ring 48 and the top cap 41, whereby thetwo disk-like portions are clamped to the motor spindle 32 for rotationtherewith. The two disks 42 and 43 are shaped to converge in the mannershown and extend slightly upwardly and meet at an annular locus 49 fromwhich locus they extend in parallelism and in juxtaposed overlappingrelation as indicated at 50. The portions in contact as at 5D are heldtogether by virtue of the illustrated construction to form a sturdydriving disk. Each disk is provided with one-half portion of a rimreceptacle such as at 5I and 52 which is adapted to receive a rubbertire or rim 53 which may be removed and replaced or repaired.

In order selectively to drive any one of the depending spindleassemblies by engagement with the rim 53 of the master driving wheel,the outwardly extending tongue portion 35 0f the spider 33 is providedwith a fiat portion 60 adapted to have fastened thereto by means ofbolts 6I a resilient plate 62. The plate 62 is provided with aperturesthrough which screws 63 pass and thread into the holes formed in alaterally projecting lug 64 of a generally circular bearing housing 65whereby the housing 65 is resiliently mounted on the spider by means ofthe resilient plate 62. The bearing housing at its upper end includes apair of perforated ears, one of which is shown at 66, to which there ispivotally connected a link 61 which is perforated at its inner end toreceive a pin 68 which pivotally connects the link 61 with another link69, which is in turn pivoted as at 10 in an aperture in one of the posts34 of the spider 33. The two links 61 and 69 form a toggle jointconnection between the upper end of the bearing housing 65 and the topof the post 34. Passing over the pin 68 is the slotted portion of anextension 1I of a plunger 12. This plunger is provided on its bottomportion with a peculiarly formed slot 13 conformed to receive the rim ofa cup in a manner shown substantially in the Brotheridge Patent2,218,808 issued on October 22, 1940. In addition, surrounding the upperportion of the plunger 'i2 there is provided a coiled spring 1d whichhas its bottom end contacting against a shoulder on the plunger 12 andhas its top portion pressing against the under side of the two links 61and 69 about the pin 68. The function of the spring 14 is normally t0force the plunger 12 downwardly to a point where the pivot 68 isslightly below the horizontal level of the outer ends of the links 61and G9. However, upon raising of the plunger 12 by the insertion of theupper edge of the rim of a mixing cup in the slot 13, the plunger 12 ismoved upwardly, compressing the spring 14 and forcing the links E1 and69 of the toggle upwardly. Since the link 69 is pivoted to thestationary post 34 the upper portion of the bearing housing 55 is pulledinwardly.

The mixing spindle 20 is journaled for rotation within the bearinghousing B5 and is provided at the upper end thereof with a pinion drivenmember 15 which is secured to the end of the mixing spindle 20 in amanner to be described in more detail in connection with Fig. 3. Uponinsertion of the cup, as hereinbefore described, the plunger 12 israised, thereby causing the bear ing housing to be moved inwardlyagainst the tension of resilient plate 62 and against the ten sion ofspring 14 so as to cause the pinion driven member 15 of aparticularspindle to engage the rubber tire 53 of the master drivingwheel whereby that particular spindle is directly rotated at arelatively high rate of speed. Each particular spindle is thus capableof being selectively controlled by engaging or disengaging its pinionmember from the constantly rotating central driving wheel. When the cupis released, the resilient mounting 62, which has been put under stress,will straighten out and carry the smaller pinion member 15 out ofcontact with the rotating central driving wheel 53, thereby to assistthe spring 14 in its purpose. The spring 1li of the plunger then carriesthe central pivoted pin 68 downwardly below the level of the pivotedends of the links 61 and 63 thereby to lock the pinion member out ofdriving engagement so that it cannot be inadvertently thrown into anengagement unless another cup is inserted into a mixing position.

From the foregoing discussion, it is evident that the insertion of a cupinto the slot 63 and the forcing upwardly of the plunger 12 allows theoperator to exert substantial sidewise thrust upon the upper end of themixing spindle 2i) through the medium of the pinion member 15. rl`his isreadily apparent when it is realized that the cup which is inserted must.be raised above its final position by an amount sufcient to clear theupper edge of the supporting stud 2l before it is secured between theslot 13 and the il of the supporting stud. If the mixing spindle isjournaled within the bearing housing 65 ata point removed from the planeof the driving wheel 53, the above described pressure which may beexerted by the operator during insertion of the cup into the assembly,and the normal side vthrust on the top of the mixing spindle duringcontact with the driving wheel, tends to produce bending of the mixingspindle and to cause it to become misaligned so as to produce excessivewear in the bearing supp-Orts, an eccentric beating action andintermittent contact between the driving wheel and the pinion member 15.

In accordance with an important feature of the present invention themixing spindle assembly is constructed in the manner shown in Fig. 3 soas substantially to eliminate the above-described defects due to sidethrusts upon the mixing spindle. As shown, the bearing housing 65 isprovided with a unitary bearing assembly comprising an outer ballbearingl race 16 and inner ball bearing race 8i, ball bearings 82 and aflanged annular ring 11. This assembly is held in position on housing 65by the bottom ange 13 of the ring 11 which rests on a correspondingflange 19 formed in the upper end of the bearing housing and is securedthereto by suitable screws or similar fastening means. The upper end ofthe spindle 20 is provided with a reduced end portion which denes anupper shoulder and this reduced end portion is received within thebearing assembly described above. The pinion member 15, which ispreferably constructed of suitable plastic or phenolic material, isseated upon the upper surface of the inner ball bearing race 3| and issecured to the end of the mixing spindle 29 by means of the screw 33.The pinion member 15 is cup-shaped so as to t over the end of thebearing housing and the outer surface 84 thereof contacts the end of therubber-tired rim 53 of the master driving wheel.

With this arrangement, the side thrust applied to the upperend of thespindle 2@ when the pinion 15 is urged into engagement with the rim 53is substantially in line .with the plane of the upper support for thespindle 2li, that is, the plane of the ball bearing members 82. By thussupporting the upper end of the spindle substantially in the plane ofthe master driving wheel and applying side thrust from the wheel throughthe cup-shaped pinion 15 to the extremity of the spindle 28 through themedium of the supporting screws 83 and inner bearing race 8|, thepossibility of accidental bending of the mixing spindle is substantiallyeliminated and the mixing spindle runs true despite relatively largepressures which may be exerted thereon by unskilled operators asdescribed heretofore.

The central portion of the bearing housing 65 is hollow and is providedwith a series of oiled impregnated felt washers 85. The bottom portionof the housing is closed by means of the sleeve bearing 8B and inaddition there is provided a slinger means 81 which is pressed onto thespindle and against the shoulder portion 88 thereof. This slinger meansincludes an upstanding, circular outwardly extending flange 39 the outerend of which overlies an inwardly and upwardly projecting nange 93 on asleeve-like closure 9i attached to the bottom of the bearing housing.

The trough formed between the flange 89 and the spindie 28 catches oilwhich seeps through the bearing 853 and by centrifugal force throws theoil out into the trough defined by the flanged portion 99. To conductthe escaped oil back into the reservoir portion of the housing here isprovided a plurality of wicks S2 which pass through openings 93 in thebottom of the bearing housing and extend downwardly into the sleeve-likeportion 2i, the action being such that any excess oil which collects inthe trough 96 is conducted by capillary attraction back up into the oilreservoir oi the bearing housing. To provide a smooth surface betweenthe rapidly moving slinger member and a xed sleeve member 9|, thesemembers are preferably shaped as shown in Fig. 3 so as to provide acontinuous line therebetween without projecting corners which would bedangerous to the operator.

In order to provide a multiple agitator assembly in which the positionof individual agitators may be readily varied to meet the need ofdifferent mixing operations, and to the end that various spindles of themultiple spindle mixing machine may be provided with different agitatorcombinations for these different mixing operations each oi the dependingspindles 20 is provided with an end portion of reduced diameter whichdenes a shoulder IDI against which the multiple agitator assembly may beheld. As is clearly shown in Fig. 6, the multiple agitator assemblycomprises a series or agitator members 22, 22a and |04 which are spacedapart by means of a plurality of sleevelike spacers |02 and |03, thespacers |02 and |03 being adapted to fit over the reduced end portion|00 of the spindle. To provide a seat for the bottom-most agitator |04and a bearing surface against which the assembly may be held, there isprovided a sleevelike extension spacer |05 which is provided with anupper portion I 05 of reduced diameter which is adapted to t within theadjacent spacer |03. The assembly is secured in operative relation bymeans of the bolt |01 which extends through the agitator |04, theextension spacer |05, and the spacer |03 and threads into the opening|08 provided in the bottom end of the spindle 20.

With the above-described multiple agitator assembly, a wide variety ofagitator positions and combinations may be readily obtained by unskilledor semi-skilled operators by changing the relative positions of theagitators 22 and the intermediate spacers |02 and |03. Thus, if auniform beating action is desired throughout a substantial length of thespindle 20, the arrangement shown in Fig. 7 may be utilized. As shown,the agitators 22 are separated by the length of the spacer |02 and thebottom-most agitator |04 is seated upon the extension spacer |05 whichinterts with the bottom portion of the spacer |03, the securing bolt |01holding the entire assembly in place against the shoulder II provided onthe spindle 20. In this connection, it will be understood that theagitators 22 and 22a are provided with a relatively large aperture so asto iit over the end portion |00 of the spindle. However, the agitator|04 is provided with a smaller aperture of the diameter of the bolt |01so as to be securely held against the bottom surface of the extensionspacer |05.

In the event that a concentrated heating action is desired at the bottomof the container, the arrangement shown in Fig. 8 may be utilized. Thus,referring to this figure, the upper agitator 22 is positioned betweenthe spacers |02 and |03, the second agitator 22a is positioned betweenthe spacer |03 and the extension spacer |05 and the bottom agitator |04is again positioned between the head of the bolt I 01 and the bottomsurface of the extension spacer |05. It will be evident from Fig. 8 thatthe agitators 22, 22a, and I 04 are positioned near the bottom of thespindle 20 and, hence, agitation near the surface of the liquid may besubstantially prevented while obtaining a uniform mixing action.

A further alternative arrangement of the agitator members is shown inFig. 9 wherein the agitators 22 and 22a. are positioned apart by thecombined length of the spacers |02 and |03 and the bottom spacer |04 isagain positioned on the bottom surface of the extension spacer |05. Itwill be apparent from Figs. '1-9 that a wide variety of agitatorcombinations may be provided while utilizing a minimal number ofcomponent parts which may be rearranged as desired.

In order to provide a multiple agitator assembly which may be employedwith containers of various thicknesses, the alternative spacer andagitator assembly shown in Figs. 10-12 may be employed. Thus, referringto these figures, there is provided an upper spacer |02, an intermediatespacci- ||0 and a lower spacer' III, which spacers separate the agitatormembers 22, 22a, and |04. The intermediate spacer H0 is provided with ahollow upper portion ||3 having an inner diameter suiiicient to permitinsertion of the spacer over the reduced end portion |00 of the spindle20. The intermediate spacer ||0 is further provided with an aperture ||4through the bottom portion thereof which is adapted to receive thesecuring bolt |01. The agitator member |04 is provided with a relativelysmall aperture which is adapted to receive the bolt |01. The bottomspacer is of somewhat smaller diameter than the diameter of the spacers|02 and I I 0 and is likewise provided with a central aperture adaptedto receive the bolt |01.

In the event that a glass mixing cup is to be utilized with the multipleagitator spindle assembly of Fig. 10, the assembly is modied in themanner shown in Fig. 11 so as to reduce the total length of the agitatorassembly by the length of the bottom spacer I I I. Thus, as shown inFig. l1, the agitator |04 is positioned adjacent the bottom of theintermediate spacer ||0 and the topmost agitator 22 is separatedtherefrom by the combined lengths of the spacer |02 and ||0. With thisalternative arrangement, the length of the multiple agitator assemblymay be readily shortened by removal of the bottom spacer so as to permitthe use of glass mixing cups with the interchangeable multiple agitatorassembly described above. A further modification of the above-describedalternative multiple agitator assembly is shown in Fig. l2, wherein theagitators 22 and 22a are equally spaced along the spindle above thebottom agitator |04, the total length of the multiple agitator assemblybeing shortened by omission of the spacer III.

From the foregoing it is evident that a wide variety of agitatorcombinations may be employed with a minimum number of component parts.Also, by utilizing the intermediate spacer ||0 and the extension spacerthe multiple agitator assembly may be readily adapted for use withmixing cups of widely varying dimensions.

While there have been illustrated certain of the agitator congurationswhich may be achieved by use of the multiple agitator assembly of thepresent invention, it will be understood that such illustrations areonly by way of eX- ample and that a number of other combinations may beemployed. For example, the length of the reduced end portion of themixing spindle may be increased so as to accommodate a plurality of thespacers |02 in which event a greater number of agitators may bepositioned as desired along the length of the mixing spindle.

While there have been described what are at present considered to be thepreferred embodiments of the invention, it will be understood thatvarious modications may be made therein which are Within the true spiritand scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent ofthe United States is:

1. In a multiple drink mixing machine, the combination of a support, amaster driving wheel, a motor for driving said wheel, a plurality ofdepending mixing spindles mounted on said support, each of said spindlesincluding a hollow bearing housing through which the upper portion ofthe spindle passes, ball bearing means positioned at the upper end ofsaid bearing housing between said housing and said spindle, an invertedcup-shaped friction driver pinion member of relatively small diameterenclosing the upper end of said housing and secured to the upper end ofsaid spindle, and means for shifting said bearing housing to providefrictional engagement of said pinion member with said driving Wheel,said ball bearing means being positioned substantially in the plane ofsaid driving wheel whereby said pinion member may be brought intoengagement with said driving wheel with sufficient pressure to causefrictional rotation thereof by said driving wheel without bending theupper end of said spindle.

2. In a multiple drink mixing machine, the combination of a support, amaster driving wheel, a motor for driving said wheel, a plurality ofdepending mixing spindles mounted on said support, each of said spindlesincluding a hollow bearing housing through which the upper portion ofthe spindle passes, a ball bearing assembly having an outer racepositioned atop the upper end of said housing and having an inner racesecured to the upper end of said spindle, a retaining ring for securingsaid outer race in position atop said housing, an inverted cup shapedfriction driven pinion member adapted to t over said retaining ring andsecured to the upper end of said spindle, and means for shifting saidbearing housing to contact said pinion member with said driving Wheel,said ball bearing means being positioned substantially in the plane ofsaid driving Wheel whereby said pinion member may be brought intoengagement with said driving wheel with sucient pressure to causefrictional rotation thereof by said driving wheel without bending theupper end of said spindle.

EARL S. PRINCE. ROBERT MACDOUGALL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,074,397 Westby Sept. 30, 19131,351,243 Graves Aug. 31, 1920 1,519,533 Dingle Dec. 16, 1924 2,218,808Brotheridge Oct. 22, 1940 2,221,315 Okum Nov. 12, 1940 2,254,236 MyersSept. 2, 1941 2,464,588 Knudsen et al Mar. 15, 1949 2,498,570 Myers Feb.21, 1950

